What to do with extra PC?

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lonelypauly

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Apr 27, 2005
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Ive got this extra PC just collecting dust and would like some suggestions of what to do with it. I thought about setting it up as a myth tv box, or perhaps a file server. Im not sure why i would even need a file server, maybe someone could explain what the advantages are.

Selling it would not be a good idea as there are tons of PC's and components flooding ebay and I would definately lose money any way.

System Specs:

AMD64 3000+ Socket 754
1 GB RAM
80 GB HD
480Watt PSU
GeForce 5700LE (dual vga out)
 
A file/print server can be handy if you have a lot of other pc's that need to have a place to dump backups to, and on occasion burn a DVD of those backups for offline storage. Or, if you are going the mythtv route, it can also be a repository of dvd-backups or pix or whatever, why not both a mythtv backend and a samba windows share for backups.

Also consider a secure firewall / gateway, even if you have a hardware router it can be invaluable for remote access into your local home network, and want to have secure sessions and internet browsing from a remote location - Just set up any version linux, and set up squid-proxy listening on localhost and a secondary port for the ssh daemon other than the port 22 default (like 2200 or whatever) then set up a port-forward on your router for 2200-external to 2200-internal to whatever static ip-address on your internal net - and when you are at a public internet cafe, or at work and want to secure your internet browsing just create an ssh session and use the port-forward option like "ssh -p {alt ssh port} 13128:localhost:3128 user@homenetwork.com" (dyndns, noip, or other dyanmic internet ip-addressing is handy) and then set up your browser for a localhost proxy with 13128 as the port, and you have a poor-mans secure browsing facility whever you are at on the internet - all your browsing traffic is forwarded across the ssh tunnel to your home network, and not visible locally (at the internet cafe, or at work or at your in-laws, wherever) since ssh encryption is DES3 it will be difficult (not impossible) to decipher. OpenVPN is another robust port-forwarding type of client/server app that is much more flexible.
 
i have been planning the right time for this. if you have kids and/or family buy a 15in lcd and mount on the wall or on a table as a picture frame and have all of you pics run as a slideshow. (if you have digital pics or such.)
 
Personnally, I would sell for cheap to a friend...

This machine is total overkill for a firewall. I have a K6-2 300Mhz running mine and it works perfectly ! It is also totally overkill for File/FTP/Web/(Gaming) server if you are not running big LANs (60+) as I have an AthlonXP 1800+/384MB running 2 CS servers, FTP, Samba and Apache and it works just fine (during LANs).

If you're into video editing, you could set it up as a calculation unit (I believe Sony Vegas allows you to do that) or you can silence it and use is as a media center...
 
It would be a nice Linux box. If you haven't tried running Linux, and have

the interest, it's fun and educational....and FREE! Or you could set it up as a

dual-boot(windows+linux). That way, should anything happen to your main

rig, you have a backup. :wink:
 
If you already have a 2nd computer and really have no use for it, I'd give it away, e.g., I always clean up my old machines and give them to one of my grandkids. While we may see an old machine as a paper weight or dust collector, it can be invaluable to someone that can't afford a computer, especially a kid. If you don't have family that can use it, can always check with a school teacher you know, sure all school teachers know of kids that could use an old machine.
 
wow, so many ideas. that secure server thing sounds cool, but very complicated. i took the RAM out of it once and put it in my main rig, but it wouldnt boot. MSI told me when all 4 dimm slots are taken that each stick has to be at least 1GB...so gay.

i have another pc besides this one i could give to someone...i shudder to think about giving this pc away only to have someone trash the Thermaltake Viking case it comes in.
 
You could do all of the above.

SAMBA (file & printer sharing ) + MythTV + router ( iptables ) + firewall ( iptables ) + printer server + audio / video streambox + VoIP ++

:-D
 
wow, so many ideas. that secure server thing sounds cool, but very complicated. i took the RAM out of it once and put it in my main rig, but it wouldnt boot. MSI told me when all 4 dimm slots are taken that each stick has to be at least 1GB...so gay.

i have another pc besides this one i could give to someone...i shudder to think about giving this pc away only to have someone trash the Thermaltake Viking case it comes in.
Click to expand...

If this case is better than one of the other ones, you could always swap or just buy a cheap case. Personally, I wouldn't give the machine to someone that would trash it. Too many people out there that could use a computer and would take care of it.
 
i have been planning the right time for this. if you have kids and/or family buy a 15in lcd and mount on the wall or on a table as a picture frame and have all of you pics run as a slideshow. (if you have digital pics or such.)
Click to expand...

Very cool idea
 
Keep it!

You'll never get out of it what you have in it!

You never know what will happen hardware wise with the present PC you have, you just may need that PC one day to fall back on.

I learned that lesson the hard way!
 
You never know what will happen hardware wise with the present PC you have, you just may need that PC one day to fall back on.
Click to expand...

Probably the best advise 4ryan6. in the meantime I can make a PVR out of it or a file server or both. thanks for entertaining my topic.
 
A file server would be a good choice to use the extra computer

its cause wen you keep getting new comps, you dont exactly have to spend money on a BIG hdd.
 
You could use those extra CPU cycles for scientific research, like BOINC / Folding-at-home. I run a team (BOINC@Hull) with a link in my sig.

Electricity isnt that much... someone worked it out in SoCal at $0.36/day or something.
 
What will i do with my abandon pc? well, i will either make it into an FTP server, this way i will have access to my files or music where ever i am around the world.

a game server

a Media Center Server, will be only use to store videos, pics, and music to be stream to other media center pcs around the house.

or make it into a media center computer and hook it up to your plasma display or projector display.
 
I had an extra computer, and I use it as my eMule box, tied into my keyboard, mouse and 21" monitor via a (funny enough) KVM switch.

Network the whole thing and say goodbye to the video store and Netflix forever.
 
i have been planning the right time for this. if you have kids and/or family buy a 15in lcd and mount on the wall or on a table as a picture frame and have all of you pics run as a slideshow. (if you have digital pics or such.)
Click to expand...

Seriously, this is just a horribly environmentally unfriendly thing to do - a complete waste of power. If you really want this, you can buy 8" LCD frames that do it for you for a fraction of the power cost and they retail at around £80.
 
i have been planning the right time for this. if you have kids and/or family buy a 15in lcd and mount on the wall or on a table as a picture frame and have all of you pics run as a slideshow. (if you have digital pics or such.)
Click to expand...

Seriously, this is just a horribly environmentally unfriendly thing to do - a complete waste of power. If you really want this, you can buy 8" LCD frames that do it for you for a fraction of the power cost and they retail at around £80.

He doesn't need to always have it running. I agree with the idea to give it to one of his kids, or just keep it as a second PC.
 
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